Contact:
Teresa Thomas
412-268-2900

For immediate release:
August 21, 2006

Carnegie Mellon Helps Spin Off 14 Companies in Fiscal Year 2006

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation (CTTEC) helped establish 14 companies based on university technology in fiscal year 2006.

"The strong local concentration of technology companies adds fuel to the technology sectors in the Western Pennsylvania region," said Rob Lowe, Carnegie Mellon Director of Enterprise Creation. Lowe noted that one company is located on the West Coast, as its founders are faculty members at Carnegie Mellon's campus in Silicon Valley.

This year's spin-offs from Carnegie Mellon represent a range of industries and technology areas, from the green chemistry firm GreenOx and the training-simulation game developer SimOps, to the industrial control firm Industrial Learning Systems.

To provide additional resources for start-ups, CTTEC launched a new program this fiscal year called Enterprise Creation.

"We're definitely on the right track, and this year's success demonstrates all of the combined efforts of Carnegie Mellon's world-class faculty and researchers and CTTEC's business development managers," Lowe said. "Our job now is to work with companies to provide value-added support and position the firms correctly to secure appropriate funding for each firm's market entry strategy. Sometimes that means traditional venture capital, but university-based start-ups are also financed through other means in the early years, such as government grants and loan programs."

Lowe is also a professor of entrepreneurship in Carnegie Mellon's Department of Social and Decision Sciences. A portion of his teaching time is allocated to Enterprise Creation and is paid for by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Enterprise Creation provides a variety of support services for faculty in starting companies, including assisting with market entry strategy, business plans, funding, marketing and media support, recruiting, office space, and other activities.

One company formed through the Enterprise Creation program is Bossa Nova Concepts, which develops robot toys. Bossa Nova received a $24,000 grant from the University Innovation Grant program of Innovation Works, a state-sponsored organization supporting the development of companies in southwestern Pennsylvania. CTTEC provided $15,000 to help build a prototype through funds raised from other partner organizations.

Bossa Nova founder Sarjoun Skaff said, "Carnegie Mellon's Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation has been instrumental in allowing Bossa Nova to get on its feet. Tech transfer provided us much more help than just facilitating funding. Under the Enterprise Creation program, we have been able to work closely with their expert staff, which has provided invaluable support — from connecting us with venture capitalists to providing business insight when we needed it most. They have shown meticulous attention to our affairs and helped us bootstrap a business in short order."

Another company formed under Enterprise Creation was GreenOx, a green chemistry company that will develop the commercial markets for a group of advanced oxidation catalysts called TAML® catalysts. The TAML® catalysts react with hydrogen peroxide, the most environmentally friendly oxidizing agent after oxygen, to perform a wide array of oxidation reactions. Chemistry Professor Terry Collins' research group has identified multiple potential markets for the TAML® catalysts, including the pulp and paper industry and the remediation of pollutants such as pesticides and residual pharmaceuticals.

Collins, the Thomas Lord Professor of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon, noted the broad responsibilities for the university and region that CTTEC pursues. "Carnegie Mellon has a truly outstanding technology transfer office with experienced leadership that understands how to orient companies for success in the global business environment while never losing sight of the university's profound responsibility to promote high-quality regional economic development," he said.

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